The night grew deeper.
Dex Fruit Stand.
Everything was cleaned up, ready to close.
Svetlana lit a cigarette, took a hard drag, and looked at her four "sisters" sitting nearby, all wearing expressions of immense displeasure. "Sorry, your business here has to stop."
"Why? Just because that Dexter said so?"
"Our business doesn't interfere with his!"
"In fact, we helped the fruit stand sell a lot more fruit!"
"That dickhead... when he was fucking us, why didn't he say anything like that?"
The four women chattered angrily.
Svetlana had a headache.
Back when those Mexicans just came to scope out the place and didn't even do anything, Dexter orchestrated an explosion...
Then.
An almost identical, but much more powerful explosion destroyed Patrick Gallagher's house, killing three and crippling one...
God knows what kind of background Dexter—that man who always smiled and seemed so easygoing—actually had, or how many lives he had taken.
Svetlana was genuinely afraid. She worried that if these four sisters kept yapping, Dexter would take action and kill them directly.
What? They slept together? He might be sentimental?
Svetlana was certain Dexter wasn't that kind of man. If he decided to act, sentimentality wouldn't even be a factor.
Svetlana exhaled a long plume of smoke. "Enough! Stop yelling. You can't do business here for now, and absolutely do not provoke Dexter. Don't use the 'we slept together' card to argue with him!"
"Trust me, you can't afford the consequences!"
"What do you mean? Look at him. What can he do?" a blonde woman asked, full of indifference.
Svetlana thought for a moment, daring not to be too specific. "You will die."
Thump.
The blonde woman was startled, instinctively disbelieving. "Svetlana, what kind of bullshit are you talking about? Are you serious?"
Svetlana nodded. "You know how chaotic this place is. He lives here alone, wandering around freely. Do you really think he's just an ordinary guy?"
Hearing this.
The four women looked at each other, surprised.
The blonde woman asked again, "Svetlana, do you know something?"
Svetlana shook her head. "Can't say."
The blonde woman got worried. "Are you in danger?"
Svetlana grinned. "No. As long as I don't provoke him, I'm safe. Enough, that's the end of it. He said this morning to stop doing business here temporarily. That's good news. It means there's room for negotiation."
"You guys made some money over the past two months. If business slows down a bit now, it won't kill you."
Having said this much.
The four women realized Svetlana wasn't joking and didn't dare argue further.
Moments later.
Dex Fruit Stand closed, and Svetlana and the five of them returned to their rented apartment.
---
In the night.
Frank stumbled toward Sheila's house, a little dizzy.
He reached the door, took out his key, opened it, and headed straight for the fridge, looking for food.
He ate whatever he could find and drank some soda.
Frank went upstairs.
Sheila had been asleep, but hearing the noise, she was terrified. She got out of bed, grabbed a long toy from under the bed as a weapon, and hid behind the bedroom door.
Frank reached the door and knocked lightly. "Sheila."
Hearing his voice, Sheila let out a huge sigh of relief and happily opened the door for Frank.
But as soon as the door opened...
The stench radiating from Frank hit her like a physical blow. Sheila couldn't handle it and staggered back several steps, gagging. "Jesus, Frank! Did you shit yourself? Why do you smell like that?"
Frank didn't care in the slightest. He stepped into the room. "This is the smell of a man. You wouldn't understand. I'm sleepy. I'm going to bed."
Sheila panicked instantly. She couldn't imagine a Frank smelling this bad lying in her bed. She rushed forward to push him out. "No! You have to shower! Otherwise, you're not coming in!"
Hearing this, Frank got extremely annoyed. But he couldn't blow up, worried Sheila would kick him out. "Sheila, it's so late. I'll shower tomorrow."
"Absolutely not! You have to shower now!" Sheila said decisively.
Frank had no choice. He struggled a bit but failed, so he resigned himself to fate and went to the bathroom.
"Wash thoroughly!" Sheila reminded him.
"Alright, alright, I know," Frank replied impatiently.
Before long.
Frank lay in the bathtub and closed his eyes.
Karen had been asleep earlier but was woken up by Frank and Sheila's voices.
Lying in bed with her eyes open, Karen suddenly had a great idea. She quickly stripped naked, grabbed her phone, quietly opened her door, and walked toward the bathroom.
Karen had heard clearly earlier and was sure Sheila wasn't in the bathroom, so she pushed the door open and walked in.
Frank was groggy and thought it was Sheila. He didn't open his eyes.
Karen smiled silently, placed her phone on the sink, started recording a video, then walked to the tub and stepped in with one leg.
Only then did Frank sense something was wrong. He opened his eyes.
Instantly, Frank sobered up significantly. He instinctively tried to get up. "Jesus!!"
"Frank, don't scream. If you call my mom, she'll definitely kick you out," Karen whispered with a smile.
Hearing this, Frank was scared.
If he got kicked out, he'd really have nowhere to go.
"What are you doing?" Frank asked anxiously.
Karen looked between Frank's legs and found it hilarious. "You can't do anything anyway. Lucky you still have a tongue..."
Karen smiled and said, "Help me sleep well. In exchange, not only will I not tell my mom, but I have some really good green stuff in my room. I can give you some."
Green stuff!
Frank wanted it!
In the blink of an eye.
Everything fell into place.
Ten minutes later.
Karen took her phone, returned to her room, opened the video, click, click, click, took a few suitable screenshots, and sent them to Lip.
---
The Gallagher House.
Lip, who had only been back for a short while and was lying in bed, heard his phone vibrate. He picked it up and looked...
Boom!
Lip's brain exploded. Rage erupted like a volcano, shooting straight to the top of his skull.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!"
A second later, Lip roared loud enough to shake the heavens. He jumped out of bed and rushed out.
The roar was too loud.
Whether it was Ian and Carl in the room, or Fiona, Steve, Debbie, and Liam in the other rooms, everyone was instantly awakened.
"What the hell!" Fiona reacted fastest. She jumped out of bed and rushed out, turning on the lights as she ran.
Running out of her room, Fiona saw Lip charging downstairs like a runaway horse.
"Lip!" Fiona didn't dare delay. Shouting, she chased after him.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Fiona watched helplessly as Lip grabbed the baseball bat hanging on the wall of the stairwell.
"Shit!!!" Fiona knew things were going south. She hurriedly ran back to her room to get dressed.
By this time, Ian, Carl, Debbie, and Steve had all come out of their rooms, confused about what was happening.
"Middle of the night, what's Lip freaking out about?" Carl asked with a yawn.
Fiona rushed back into her room and threw on a dress. "I don't know! But he took the baseball bat. Something bad is going to happen. We have to chase him!"
Hearing this.
Ian sighed instantly. "No need to chase. He definitely went to Karen's house. Steve, can you drive us there? Please?"
Steve couldn't say no. "Let's go."
Moments later.
Steve, Fiona, Debbie, Ian, and Carl got into the car and sped toward Karen's house.
Liam was left at home.
The distance wasn't far.
The Gallagher house was 2119 North Wallace, and Karen's house was 1973 North Wallace (Sheila's).
It only took a few minutes.
Steve and the gang arrived at Karen's house.
Unfortunately, they were a little too late.
Lip, having sprinted all the way here, had already smashed a window on the first floor and was climbing in.
Seeing this.
Fiona almost went crazy. She rushed out of the car in a panic, screaming, "Lip!! Don't!! Lip!!"
At the same time.
Lights flicked on upstairs in Karen's house.
Frank, in the bathtub, was startled. He scrambled up, grabbed his clothes from the floor, and ran downstairs, intending to escape through the back door.
Sheila was bewildered and terrified.
Karen dialed 911 without hesitation. "Hurry, hurry! Someone broke into my house, I think they're going to kill someone! Address is 1973 North Wallace! Send help to save me!!!"
"Ma'am, hide quickly! Police are on the way!!"
Outside Karen's house.
Fiona sprinted toward Lip, screaming, trying to stop him.
Debbie was also screaming desperately, on the verge of tears.
Carl didn't have much of a reaction.
Ian watched with a cold expression, observing detachedly. Watching the scene unfold, he couldn't help but feel that if this continued, that idiot Lip might actually die because of Karen.
Steve lit a cigarette, couldn't be bothered to intervene, and just leaned against the car to watch.
At this moment.
Lip had successfully climbed into Karen's house. Gripping the baseball bat with furious rage, he stormed toward the stairs.
Coincidentally.
Frank had just run to the middle of the stairs.
Their eyes met.
"Frank!!!" Lip roared immediately, charging up.
Frank had no choice. He could only flee upstairs.
Unfortunately.
Frank was caught.
Lip didn't hesitate for a second. He swung the bat down!
"Ahhh!!" Frank screamed in pain. "Fuck, fuck! Stop!!"
Lip didn't listen. He swung again.
"Ahhh!!! You're gonna kill me!!" Frank wailed.
Frank's wails were loud.
Fiona and the others outside heard them clearly.
Just then.
In the distance, the distinct sound of sirens wailed in the darkness.
Hearing this, Fiona truly panicked. "Lip, the police are coming!!!"
Ian moved. He quickly walked to Fiona's side and said calmly, "Call Tony. Beg him for help. Otherwise, Lip is going back to Juvie tomorrow!!"
Fiona, being a woman with surprisingly little sense in a crisis, usually just screamed and cried. Hearing this, she snapped out of it, hurriedly pulled out her phone, and called Tony.
The call connected quickly.
Fiona explained the situation rapidly.
Tony, who was sleeping at home, heard the story and jumped out of bed. "I'm on my way! Don't hang up. If the police arrive, let me talk to them."
"Okay, okay, okay," Fiona was a mess, agreeing repeatedly.
---
Inside Karen's House.
Frank wailed madly, in excruciating pain.
But even so, Frank seized an opportunity. Enduring the pain, he gathered his strength and kicked Lip.
Lip didn't expect this at all. Kicked squarely by Frank, he lost his balance, fell backward, and tumbled down the stairs.
Seeing this, Frank scrambled on hands and knees toward Sheila's room, shouting at Sheila as he crawled, "Sheila! Call the police! Call the police!!!"
Ten seconds later.
Frank successfully escaped into Sheila's room.
Lip stopped rolling.
Lip was in pain. He shook his head dizzily, gritted his teeth, and stood up. "Frank, I'm going to kill you!!"
Inside Sheila's room.
Sheila was shaking with fear. "Frank, Frank, what on earth happened? Is Lip crazy..."
Frank's body twitched with pain. "Yes!! He is crazy! I should have shot him onto the wall back then!!"
---
Outside Karen's House.
Listening to the approaching sirens, Fiona completely lost it, screaming, "Lip! Come out! Come out quickly!!"
The police car arrived in an instant.
However, almost at the same time, Tony arrived, speeding like a maniac.
"Let me handle this. It's just a small family dispute. Kids being stupid, messing around," Tony sprinted full speed to the two officers who had just gotten out of their car, smiling as he spoke. "I'll treat you guys to dinner tomorrow. Really sorry to make you come all this way."
They were from the same precinct. The arriving officers didn't want to be disrespectful.
However, they didn't just leave.
"The 911 call said someone broke in to commit murder. Tony, this isn't a small matter," the older officer said seriously. "You want to handle it, fine. But we have to watch you handle it here, and it has to be now. Otherwise, if something really happens, we're both screwed."
Tony had no choice. "Okay, right now!"
Dropping that line, Tony didn't dare waste time. He immediately went to Fiona. "Don't worry. I'll get Lip out."
Speaking softly to Fiona, Tony headed straight for the window Lip had smashed. He climbed in agilely and followed the noise upstairs.
Reaching the second floor.
He saw Lip gripping the baseball bat tightly, roaring at a room.
Tony walked quickly to Lip's side. "Lip, calm down. The police are here. Come out with me quickly, or you're in big trouble!"
Lip had lost his reason. Hearing this, he turned and roared at Tony, "I don't care!!"
After roaring, Lip turned back to Frank in the room and bellowed, "Frank! Did you hear that? I don't care! I'm definitely going to kill you today!"
The words hit Tony's ears.
Thump.
With words like that...
There were two cops right outside!
This couldn't continue, or there would be no way to clean it up!
The nerve on Tony's forehead twitched. He made a decisive choice and swung a punch at Lip!